Loose-leaf binder



' Feb. 10, 1925.

E. L. GREENSFE'LDER moss LEAFBINDEYIR Filed March 5. 1922 I s Sheets-Sheet 1 Elmmr L. 611942225 eld gnvcnfoz Gttonuq Pei). 1o, i925.

h525 771 E. L. GREENSFELDER LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed larch 5,1922 3 sheets-sheet 2 Elmer L; Grew/gamer m.- m was.

5. L. GREENSFE'LDER v LOOSE LEAP BINDER Filed larch s. 1922 3' Sheets-Sheet s Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER LEWIS eannnsrnnnnn, onnnnrmonn, MARYLAND.

' LodsE-LEAE nnvnna.

Application fi1ed March 3 1922. Serial No. 540,780.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER'L'. GREENS- rnnnnn, a citizen of theUnited States, and

' resident of'Baltimore, Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improve-- ments in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the followingis a specification. 1 My present invention relates to loose-leaf binders, rings and paper forsame, the pri- 1. mary object being to produce a binder havfrom the fact that the rings of the binder open at or about the center, that is,the segments of the rings are of equal or about equal length. I shall refer to such loose-leaf binders as central opening'binders. The gap in the open ring being centralized, it is considerably more convenient to insert a sheet in or remove it from the center or near it than the topor bottom of the pack when the rings are filled or nearly filled to capacity, for at a point near or at the center, the segments of the open rings project far enough above the sheets to hold them in position while a sheet is being. removed or inserted. I shall henceforth refer to the sheet or sheets that are being removed or inserted as active and shall call those sheets dead which are to'be held in position by the open segments of the rings while. the active sheets are being handled.

By handling active sheets'I shall referv to the process of either removing active sheets from or inserting them in the rings of the binder.

. In handling an active sheetin a binder of the usual central opening type, particularly when it is filled almost to or to capacity', it invariablyhappens when the active sheetis located at or near the bottom or top of the sheets, that dead sheets, sometimes a number of them, come loose from t-heir position' and are forced above the open segments of the rings. This occasions considerable inconvenience, for these dead sheets must be fitted back into' position be fore the rings can be closed again.

It is obvious that such a difliculty should arise. when the active sheet is near the. to or bottom of the pack foruthen a (muc larger number of dead sheets occupy the segments of one side of the binder than when the active sheet is near the middle of the pack.-

To obviate such an objection, I have devlsed-a form' of binder, rings, and sheets which allow of ready and convenient handling of the active' sheet or sheets at the end,

near the 'end, and at central and other parts of the pack while-the dead sheets are held in position.

In the drawings F1gure 1 1s aplan view of a binder embodying my invention with rings open and i without a filler.

Fig; 2 is a view of asheet which may be usedwith' the device of Fig. 1'.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 with the binder loaded.

Fig. 4c is 'a plan view of the binder of Fig. 1 filled with sheets, all but onesheet being on the left of the rings.

Fig. 4* is an end elevation of Fi 4.

' Fig. 5 is a perspective of a modification having eccentricrlngs. Fig. 6 shows two in a three-ring binder. I 1

'Fig. 7 illustrates a guide in connection with a binder.

Fig. 8 is a detail of Fig.7.

' Referring now to these drawings, I have designated the binder or cover at 1, havdifferent combinations ing the usual base 2, of any desired form which will hold the rings in either closed or open position. V

' In Fig. 1 I have shown rings having separable segments of different instance, segments 3, 4: 5, and .6 are shorter than the complementary segments 3*, 4", 5", and 6". It will be noted that rings having segments 3*,3", and 4,

lengths, for

Ehavethem segments opening to. the left side 'of the top center and rings formed of se ments 5, 5 and'6, 6".to the right jthereo each set of similarly opening rings" preferably having their openings in alignment The sheet used with such a device as shown in the above figures may be ofthe ordinary loose-leaf form, or as shown in Figs. 2and a, wherein holes are provided containing perforations and slots'or the like may in some instances be more convenient, I have lllustrated thisfo-rm excluslvely as obviously wherever a slot occurs, a hole may be substituted.

In this form, reference being had to Fig. 3, it will be seen that on the right hand sheets, rin segments 5 and 6 pass through holes 8, an spaces 9. pass around or straddle I ring segments 3' and 4". This figure shows the binder opened at approximately the cen- I merely the sheets of Fig. 2

ed from those on theright. This causes ter of the pack of sheets. It will be seen that the sheets on the left of the rings are reversed or turnholes 8 to engage segments 3* and 4"- and spaces 9 to straddle segments 5 and 6 Straddlin throughout this specification means w ere an aperture'does not completely surround a ring or other holding means.

It will be seen that in the ease of the sheet of- Fig. 2, for a four-ring binder, two holes 8 and two spaces 9 are used. These spaces arev preferably alternated with the holes as shown. I do not limit mfiyself'to the use of spaces and holes as speci their shapein Fig. 2, rangement merely being used in the diagrams accompanying these specifications as the best form for illustration.

A hole or slotted hole 'could be used incally indicated by stead of a space or slot, and in such a case ment. The size of the holes may of course '16- the segment would pass through the hole instea of the paper straddling the segvary as desired.

I do not limit myself to four rings, as

more or less can be used and in such acase the same principle would be. followed, additional or fewer holes and spaces being punched or laced in the paper accordingly.

It would be convenient to use one of the index markers near the center of the pack, say the letter M, as a dividing line. In this case all of the sheets from A to M inclusive would be'placed in the binder of Fig. 3 with the hole 8 uppermost. Allof the sheets from N'to. Z inclusive would be. placed in the'binder of Fi 3 with space 9 uppermost. Instead 0 using an index marker such as M for a dividing line, a specially colored or shaped sheet could be inserted at or about the center of the pack to serve as dividing guide, or a speciall marked or colored tab attached to one of t e central sheets could be-used. When a new sheet is this shape and arto be inserted it would be placed in the binder with the hole 8 or space 9 uppermost, depending on which side of thedividing guide or marker it was to be entered. For example, in the case represented in Fig. 3, a sheet entered under an index letter in the first half of the alphabet would be placed in alphabetical position with the hole 8 uppermost, and a sheet entered under a letter in the latter half of the alphabet would-be placed in alphabetical position with space 9' uppermost. If letter M. did not represent the approximate middle of the pack, ano ther letter which more nearly did could be chosen as the dividing line.

Figs. 4 and 4 show the binder and rings filled almost to or to capacity the rings being open to handle an active sheet at the bottom of the pack. 10 represents the bottom sheet of the pack and 11 the dead sheets, which, in this case, are all on the same (the left) side of the binder. The segments 5 and 6 in this form though shorter than 5 and 6 are amply long enough to pass through the holes of all the dead sheets below a central (llVldlIig llIlG, or approximately one-half of the pack, and thus hold them in position. If 10 is not the very end sheet, that is, if there should be dead sheets below it, they are held in placeby segments 5 and 6 which pass through the corresponding holes of these sheets. It is evident that the active sheet 10 can be readily removed from or inserted in the segments 5 and 6. It is thus seen that the bottom or near bottom active sheet can be handled in a binder of this type well filled with paper while all the dead sheets areheld inposition, the lower sheets by short segments 3 and 4, the upper ones by long segments 5" and 6!. Where it is desired to handle an active sheet at the top of the pack, the above operation is reversed.

An active sheet at or near the center, that is, at or near the dividing line,- may be readily removed in the usual manner, the dead sheets still being held in position by I segments.

It will be seen that in this form of sheet the holes and spaces are so punched and placed with respect to each other that the paper fits on the ring segments whether it is used in the normal position or'upside down (reversed).

When the usual form of sheet having all holes and nospaces is used in my binder, no reversin of the sheets is necessary, and no central ividing line such as referred to is required. When such all hole sheets are used and the binder is open the long segments on both sides hold in position all sheets threaded over them as there are no sheets having spaces which merely straddle. The short segments obviously help to hold only those sheets in position through whose orbottom'.

my binder-where long segmentsyare extra' holes they pass, while the'longer segments ser'vejt0 keep all dead sheets lll-POSltlOll' whether the pack is open at the top, center,

It maybe foun'd'that in certain forms'of long that the sheet having holes and spaces can, be placed into'positlon over the proper segments more quickly th'an the sheet hav ingtall-holes. r

' I do not limit myself to anyone type-or make of loose-leaf binder mechanism, the invention; which I have described herein being applicable topractically all of. the :ring loose leaf binder and, ledger mechanisms such as have been or are' nowbefore the public, whether the rings "are opened and closed by merely pulling them apart and pushing them together, or by, lever, spring, orother mechanism.

I do'not Wish to. limit myself as to the best place to locate or best manner togroup I the holes and spaces, this being left to the judgment of the manufacturer of the binder, as the best location and grouping may vary with binders of diiferent shapes and dimen sions, or binders for varying purposes. Al ternatio'n of spaces and holes is not absojlutely-essential,

eachfiset arranged eccentr1cally with respect;

Fig.6 shows an arrangement f the rings,

various positions for various binders.

Fig. .6 shows (liagrammatically two of the various combinations of central and noncentral opening rings 1 may ,use in'a threering binder. The sheets used wlth this form are preferably of the all-hole type.

. It may be found desirable in some forms of binder to provide guide means, shown at 24 in liig. T. whichis. a member. suitably secured to the back or folder'proper .1 in order to facilitate theholding-ot' thedeadsh eets vin position,- more particularly where three or less rings are used. 7 V I The herein described invention enables the dead sheets to be lield in position better and the active sheets to be handled better than in the case of the present stylein use,-

and also servesto increase-the workable the sizes of the rings.

I have mentioned the'longer segments as extending to one side of the-top center,

meaning when the rings are closed, butin capacity of the binder,-without increasing many instances-it will be found desirable to have the long segment extend past. the top center when the segments are separated, as this insures thejdead'sheets being held securely while handling active ones; as shown iniFigul, and-thereforel, do not wish to be limited to'a construction wherein the long segment extends pasti the top vcenter when the rings are closed or when open. T g

Having, thus described my invention, what Iclairn is: r v r 1. A binder of the type described, including a plurality of means having-separable ends, adapted to receive sheetsbetweentheir ends, the point of meeting of the ends of one of saidmeans being out of alignment ,withthe point of mcetingotthe ends of another'means.

2. A binder of .the type described, having a'plurality of means for attaching a sheettos'aid binder, each-of said meansl aving separable ends the point of meeting of said ends belng te oneside of the top center of saidmeans, the point ofmeeting of the ends of two/separate sheet-holding means being on, opposite sides of the top center. 7

In testimony whereof I aiiix mysi-gnature.

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